


Hey Baby (I Think I Wanna Marry You)

by missingnolovefic



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: (sort of but not really but Tony's close to one), Alcohol, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mental Breakdown, Misunderstandings, Multi, Rejection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-12
Updated: 2014-11-12
Packaged: 2018-02-25 03:44:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2607248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missingnolovefic/pseuds/missingnolovefic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony drunk-calls Bucky after he and Steve had a fight. Bucky tries to fix the mess that his two lovers have made of their relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hey Baby (I Think I Wanna Marry You)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [veteratorianvillainy (skeptics_secret)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skeptics_secret/gifts).



Tony was staring into the golden liquid, languidly swishing in circles, before he emptied the glass. This time he left it empty, pushed to the side for DUM-E to collect later, while he curled up on his workshop couch. Most of the lights were shut down, the only sound the echoes of his breaths and the occasional whir from his ‘bots. JARVIS was thankfully silent as Tony drowned his sorrows in alcohol.  
Today had started so well and now. Now he’s sitting here, well into a bottle of expensive scotch, alone.

Alone.

All at once he couldn’t take the silence anymore, needed to talk to someone, but he’d already lied to Pep earlier that everything was fine (and she was probably onto him because he rarely declined to use a video call) and Rhodey wasn’t back from his mission yet (JARVIS had put a countdown into the bottom corner of the last lit holoscreen for him, 48:06:16 it said, slowly ticking down). But he needed… needed…

"JARVIS, call…" he hesitated, shaking his head. That only made him dizzier and he let his forehead thunk against his knees. "…call. Just call…" His words trailed off into mumbled nonsense when he realized the ‘calling now’ tone was sounding through the ‘shop already. Tony tried not to think about it, about anything.

"What the fuck, Stark?" Barnes voice rang in his ears, loud against the previous quiet. He shivered, but drew himself upright enough so he could talk.

"Hey, hey Buckybear, lovely honey Bucky bear-" Tony paused for a moment to listen, to identify that familiar background noise. "Are you in a bar? Without me? I’m hurt, sugarpie. Hurt."

"…are you drunk?" Barnes sounded so incredulous, Tony couldn’t help but laugh sharply, desperately. It’s not a happy sound. There’s a hushed ‘It’s Stark’ and some more words Tony pretended he didn’t hear. He didn’t want to think about it. He wasn’t thinking about it. He redraped the fluffy comforter around him fussily.

"No, I’m not. Well, maybe. A bit. But no." Tony slumped into himself, suddenly drained of all energy. "No," he mumbled, tears stinging behind firmly closed eyelids. "No. He said, ‘no’."

There was no answer, but the background noise levels sunk, Barnes probably stepped out. Or into the bathroom or hall or something, Tony couldn’t find the energy to care. He imagined the ‘No.’ hanging in the air, still echoing through the (mostly) silent workshop. No. No. Nonononono-

"Goddammit Stark, answer me!" And now he’d made Barnes angry too, what a fucked up mess. Tony fumbled for the tumbler, only finding air where he was sure he’d put the glass. He frowned, turning to the bottle instead. Not there either. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. He wasn’t supposed to be here, he was supposed to be with Bucky and-

"Steve."

There was a pause in the frantic rumble, what had Barnes been talking about? Tony wasn’t sure, but he needed to concentrate. Concentrate.

"Stark, you know this is Bucky, not Steve, right?" Barnes sounded weird over the phone, maybe he could fix that? He tapped the holoscreen and made a note for later. Fix voice relays. The countdown was still ticking.

"No," Tony repeated wearily, "Steve-" The breath caught in his throat, the words gathering there like a stone, weighing heavily in his stomach. Stevestevesteve. No. Nononononono.

"Stark, where are you? No, you know what, forget it-" There was a sound, a rustling sound and then- "JARVIS, where’s Tony?"

"Sir is currently on the workshop couch, Sergeant."

"Risk assessment, JAR-"

"Steve," Tony interrupted him, wrapping his arms around his legs, "Steve, Bucky. No. He said no. I-" He swallowed, fighting down a sob, "I messed up. Steve said no, Bucky."

This time, the silence took longer, as if Barnes was stunned. Tony couldn’t figure out why he would be, it should have been obvious. They trusted him too much. Trusted in him. Or so he thought, but Steve- Tony hiccuped. The silence was stretching too long, but he might not be tracking time well right now. He’d had most of that bottle, after all.

47:32:59. The numbers blinked at him from the screen, counting down.

"What are you talking about, Tony?" Barnes sounded weary, cautious. He should be. "What did Steve say no t- Jesus Christ, you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t, Stark, we had an agreement." Tony stayed silent. He’d messed up, now he had to weather the storm. He longed for the rest of the scotch.

"It just…" he trailed off, staring at the ceiling. Trying to remember where he’d hidden all the cameras and loudspeakers and sensors. "It just happened. One second we were laughing, and then he turned around, and he smiled at me and-" A sob finally broke through, shaking Tony. "It seemed like the perfect moment. I- I don’t know."

Barnes waited patiently for him to collect himself. God, he didn’t deserve either of them, did he? It was pure stupidity to think Steve would say yes, of course he hadn’t, Tony’d really messed up there, hadn’t he?

"Shh, baby. Shh. I’ll be over in twenty, ok? Just stay there, don’t move. JARVIS, make sure Tony stays put. I’m getting Steve, and we’re coming over there."

"No!" Tony jolted upright, blanket tangling around his hips and legs. "Don’t. Not Steve, please, I can’t…"

"Hey, Tony. Shhh. It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay. We’re going to clear this up, okay? Steve’s been upset all evening too, I was wondering what you two had a row about this time. Jesus Christ, you should have called me immediately. We had a plan, Stark."

It startled a laugh out of Tony, interrupted by hiccups and sniffles, but genuine. They’d been planning for months how to propose their threeway marriage to him. They’d checked out the laws and politics, a couple bribes (Tony) and threats (Bucky) later, they were about ready to spring the surprise.

"I really fucked that up, didn’t I?" His voice sounded self-depreciating even to his own ears.

"No, baby. No. We can fix this. I’ll grab Steve and we’ll be over as soon as we can."

"God, I really hate that word," Tony muttered, shivering in the cold. He grabbed the blanket and wrapped himself into it again. "Hurry?" he asked plaintively, buried into his blanket burrito as well as he could.

"Yeah," Bucky agreed, background noise more immediate again. "Yeah, just hold on, okay? We’ll be there before you can say ‘cryostasis’."

Tony laughed, shakily, lying back down on the couch. For a moment neither said anything, then he could barely hear the hushed tones of Barnes and Rogers talking. The pub music and background chatter died away, and it felt like someone was gripping his throat and strangling him. He panted heavily, erratically.

"Stay on the phone?" he asked, his voice breaking. "Please?"

Barnes paused for a moment, then sighed. “You know I can’t, babe, I gotta drive. Here, I’ll hand you over to Steve.”

There were muffled protests caught in the phone’s mic, some shuffling noises and a hissed ‘Dammit, Bucky’ before things calmed down again. The silence stretched, until Tony couldn’t bear it anymore.

"Steve?"

"Yeah," Cap replied, sounding worried, "yeah, I’m here. You alright, Tony?"

"I guess." He had to close his eyes again, taking a deep breath. "Sorry."

"Hey. Hey, listen, Shellhead. No matter what happens, I love you. Okay?" Steve sounded so honest, so urgent. Tony felt warmth in his chest, felt like he could breathe again.

"Yeah. Love you, too. And Barnes, in case you hadn’t noticed."

"Yeah." They fell into silence, but this was a comfortable one, listening to Steve’s steady breathing, knowing they were on their way back to him. That he hadn’t messed everything up, it was still fixable, that he hadn’t lost them. He smiled.

47:16:10 until his makeshift family was home together again.

**Author's Note:**

> There's going to be a Steve PoV chapter next and a Bucky PoV resolution after that. Not sure when those will happen, though.


End file.
